Euphorbia vermiculata |
Euphorbia simulans |
|
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hairy sandmat, wormseed sandmat, wormseed spurge |
mimicking sandmat, similar spurge |
|
Habit | Herbs, annual or short-lived perennial, with slender, fibrous taproot. | Herbs, annual or short-lived perennial, with usually slender, occasionally slightly thickened, rootstock. |
Stems | prostrate to ascending or erect, not mat forming, 10–35 cm, usually sparsely to moderately strigillose, pilose, or villous, rarely glabrate hairs sometimes in longitudinal lines. |
prostrate to reclining, 5–40 cm, glabrous. |
Leaves | opposite; stipules distinct or connate, triangular to narrowly triangular or laciniate into subulate to filiform divisions, 0.6–1.3 mm, glabrous or sparsely pilose; petiole 0.2–0.9 mm, glabrous, villous, or strigillose; blade ovate, oblong, or elliptic, often falcate, 5–18 × 3–9 mm, base asymmetric, one side rounded and other cordate, margins usually serrulate especially in distal 1/2, rarely nearly entire, apex acute or obtuse, surfaces not papillate, sparsely pilose, villous, or sericeous (especially near base), often glabrate (especially older leaves); 3–5-veined from base. |
opposite; stipules distinct, subulate, 0.5–0.7 mm, glabrous; petiole 0.7–1.3 mm, glabrous; blade orbiculate, oval, to shortly oblong, 1–3.2 × 1.5–5 mm, base subsymmetric, rounded, margins entire, apex usually rounded, occasionally emarginate, surfaces glabrous; venation obscure, only midvein conspicuous. |
Involucre | obconic, 0.7–1.1 × 0.5–0.8 mm, glabrous; glands (2–3)–4, red to reddish green, circular to oblong, 0.1 × 0.1–0.2 mm; appendages absent or white, turning pink with age, flabellate, oblong, circular, or forming narrow lunate border around margin of gland, 0.1–0.3 × 0.2–0.4 mm, distal margin entire or slightly lobed. |
turbinate to campanulate, 0.8–1.2 × 0.7–1 mm, glabrous; glands 4, red to purple, slightly concave, elliptic, 0.2–0.3 × 0.4–0.5 mm; appendages absent. |
Staminate flowers | 5–15. |
15–36. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.3–0.5 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.2–0.3 mm, 2-fid nearly entire length. |
Capsules | oblate to subglobose, cocci not elongated nor terminating in empty portion, 1.4–1.8 × 1.7–2.1 mm, glabrous; columella 1.1–1.5 mm. |
broadly ovoid, 1.3–1.8 × 1.5–2 mm, glabrous; columella 1.1–1.4 mm. |
Seeds | brown, gray, or almost black, ovoid to oblong, 3–4-angled in cross section, 1.1–1.4 × 0.7–0.8 mm, rugulose and sometimes also with low transverse ridges that do not interrupt abaxial keel. |
whitish, reddish brown beneath coat, oblong, 4-angled in cross section, 1.5–2 × 1.3–1.8 mm, with 5–7 faint transverse ridges or wrinkles. |
Cyathia | solitary at distal nodes or in small, cymose clusters at branch tips; peduncle 0.2–2.5 mm. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.3–0.7 mm. |
2n | = 28. |
|
Euphorbia vermiculata |
Euphorbia simulans |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. | Flowering and fruiting year-round. |
Habitat | Juniper-oak woodlands, temperate deciduous forests, grasslands, pine forests, oak forests with sycamores, walnuts and alders, often in disturbed areas. | Desert scrub, mountains, hills, canyons, arroyos, flats, roadsides, clay, sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils. |
Elevation | 0–2600 m. (0–8500 ft.) | 600–1300 m. (2000–4300 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CT; IL; IN; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; PA; RI; VA; VT; WI; WV; NB; NS; ON; QC; Mexico; temperate deciduous forests; often in disturbed areas; walnuts and alders; oak forests with sycamores; pine forests; grasslands; Juniper-oak woodlands
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TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila) |
Discussion | Euphorbia vermiculata has an interesting disjunct distribution; it ranges from central Mexico to Arizona and New Mexico, and is also present in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Euphorbia simulans, which in the flora area is known only from Brewster, Hudspeth, and Presidio counties, is difficult to distinguish in the field from the sympatric E. theriaca var. theriaca, because they are mainly distinguished by seed morphology. The latter has smaller seeds with (two or) three (or four) prominent transverse ridges, whereas E. simulans has larger seeds that are slightly wrinkled. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 292. | FNA vol. 12, p. 289. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce rothrockii, C. vermiculata, E. rothrockii | E. polycarpa var. simulans, Chamaesyce simulans |
Name authority | Rafinesque: Amer. Monthly Mag. & Crit. Rev. 2: 206. (1818) | (L. C. Wheeler) Warnock & M. C. Johnston: SouthW. Naturalist 5: 170. (1960) |
Web links |